Strange Man
by BBCGirl72
Summary: 'There's a strange man who stands at the street corner.' Merlin/Arthur friendship, hints of Merlin/Arthur if you squint. (In chapter 3 it becomes more pronounced.) Chapter 3 is up! Reviews are greatly appreciated. :) Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, sadly.
1. Strange Man on the Street Corner

There's a strange man who stands at the street corner. Every day, when I'm playing on the playground, he stares out at the lake. He stares for minutes at a time, like he cannot focus on anything but the shimmering blue water and the distant temple on the island in the middle of the lake.

The man could not be more than twenty, but his blue eyes look solemn, like something awful happened to him on the rocky shores.

I watch him quietly and secretly while I play with my brothers. Because, even though I am only nine, I wonder what could possibly make someone so sad.

Once, I get up the courage to talk to him.

My brothers and I are playing hide-and-go-seek, and I volunteer to be 'it'. While they go and hide, I slip up to stand beside the strange man. I tug on his brown jacket sleeve and he tears his gaze away from the lake. The man crouches down to my eye level.

"Why are you sad?" I ask.

The man is silent for a few moments, like he is testing why he should tell a scrawny blonde nine year old the answer to that particular question.

"What gives you the impression that I am sad?" he replies.

Answering a question with a question. Clever.

"Because every day you stare out at the lake, like something bad happened there." I say. I must hurry this along; my brothers with begin to get suspicious soon. The man sighs in defeat.

"I lost a friend. A long time ago. You remind me of him. Secretly clever. And blonde," The man brushes a hand through his ebony hair and chuckles, like he's thinking of someone who once made him happy. It's only then that I notice that the man's clear blue eyes seem old, like he'd seen the world and he was weighed down with painful memories.

"Do you think you'll ever find your friend?" I ask.

"An old acquaintance of mine told me I would." The man replies.

I smile at the man. Suddenly, I want so badly for this man to find the person who made his seemingly melancholy nature turn smiling and utterly happy.

"I hope you find him, then."

The man returns my smile.

"Thank you." The man says to me. He looks at the lake one last time, and silently walks away.

I call out at the last second, "What should I call you?"

The man stops and turns, grinning.

"Emrys."

He disappears around a corner.

Finally I turn around and find all of my brothers starting towards me.

"So much for the finding part of the game. Good going," One of my brothers punches me in the shoulder. I roll my blue eyes.

Mother comes over, hollering, "Percy, Leon, Blaine, stop yelling at your brother."

Mother walks over to me and grips my shoulders.

"Arthur, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?"

_**A/N: I hope you enjoyed it. I got this idea in one of my classes today and wrote it down as fast as I could. :) And yes, Blaine is supposed to be Gwaine. :D Reviews are much appreciated! **_


	2. King and Lionheart

I am fifteen years old when the memories begin.

Specifically, it is my little sister, Gwen's, fourth birthday.

All of her friends are over, waving princess wands and dressing in blue Cinderella gowns and tiaras.

I have to get away, if only for a few minutes. Too many screaming three year olds are _not_ good for your health.

So I go the one place I can think of: the old playground I used to love, the one I used to go to everyday, the one that overlooked the lake, the one that I haven't been to for at least six years.

As I sit on the swing, thinking, the memories begin.

I close my eyes.

Memories of a boy with raven hair, large ears, and a stupid grin. Memories that cannot be mine, but are utterly mine.

Making fun of the boy because of his stupid grin, but secretly wanting to get one out of him every time I see him.

Making him hold up a target so I can practice archery, his ears going red to the tips when I miss the bullseye by quite a lot.

Ruffling the raven hair when he does something ridiculous but life-saving.

Hugging him even though he is caked in mud.

I do not know who this raven-haired boy is, but I do know that I love him. Platonically or more, I do not know. Just that I love him.

When I open my eyes again, a man is standing at the street corner, looking out at the lake. He has earbuds in, yet I can hear the music he is listening to. The music blasts loudly. He may be trying to block out something, or maybe he cannot hear very well. But I can hear the song.

_As the world comes to an end, I'll be here to hold your hand, 'cause you're my king and I'm your lionheart,_ the song blasts.

The man is humming along to it. I go up to him curiously and touch his shoulder.

A memory rockets through me. Two, in fact.

Me, tugging on the same brown jacket sleeve at age nine.

And me, gripping the shoulder of the raven-haired boy, saying something...

"No man is worth your tears," I remember.

"Well you're certainly not," the boy punches my shoulder, yet I can see how nervous he is.

Then I am back here.

I shake my blonde head and smile at the man who has turned around. Ebony hair curls at his temples and his blue eyes are old, though he could not be more than twenty. His ears protrude from his head. He studies me for a mere second.

"Is there something I can help you with, young man?" He asks.

Another memory tugs at me.

"Emrys. You said I could call you Emrys."

Something clicks beneath the man's guarded features.

"My, you've grown. I never forget a face," he says after a few seconds.

I grin slightly, and he returns the grin.

A big, stupid grin.

It is only then that it all clicks in place in my mind.

A name, a name to this raven-haired boy in the memories that couldn't possibly be mine, yet are so very mine.

"Merlin," I say. Emrys - no, MERLIN, I am sure of this - looks momentarily confused.

"Merlin Emrys is your name."

The man's face clouds over with confusion, but not like it is not true. Like he is trying to figure out how I could possibly know that, his name.

You can practically see the gears turning in his head.

Yes, yes, blonde hair, blue eyes, figure it out!

"_Mer_lin," I say finally, emphasis on the 'Mer', trying to help him make the connection.

"It's Arthur."


	3. Two Sides To The Same Coin

Merlin's face goes completely white. He was never really tan, in fact he was always a bit pale, but he'd never been bed sheet white before.

His eyes begin to get shiny with tears and he whispers, "That's not funny." His knees are knocking together and the age is starting to fade from his eyes, until he looks like a scared fifteen year old boy.

"Merlin, I -" I begin.

"No," Merlin interrupts me. "No, no, no..." He puts his hands on either side of his skull like he is wishing to crush it. His face is red and tears are beginning to well from his blue eyes. Merlin's knees start to buckle.

Before he crumples, I catch him and help him to a swing, though he is quite rigid and untrusting.

Merlin's hands have gone up to cover his face, so he looks a bit like those aliens from that Doctor Who show - the weeping angels, I think.

"Hey," I say, my voice gentle. I pull his hands away from his face.

"Hey," I say again. Merlin's eyes finally meet mine. "I remember. I remember Kilgarrah. I remember sparring with you. I remember the blue light that helped me find the Morpheus flower. I remember telling you to hold me while I was -" I choke a bit on tears. "Dying. I remember the pain."

A tear drops from my eye. It is a bit much. Merlin swallows hard and wipes the tear away. Before he pulls his hand away, I catch it and don't let it go.

"It's _me_." I whisper.

Merlin starts to cry. I pull him into an embrace and wait until the sobs stop racking his small body. Eventually, he pulls away and stares at me.

"I should've known, the moment I saw your blue eyes sparkle," he says. I grin.

"Yeah, you big dollop-head." I ruffle his raven hair, as I realize that is its color. Not ebony, but raven. As it has always been.

Merlin grins back at me, that huge, stupid grin that I love.

And in that moment, I realize it will all be okay.

I realize that I might just like Merlin a bit more than platonically. We are two sides to one coin. We will never stop needing one another.

Ever.

And that is completely okay.

_**A/N: I don't know, should this be the end? :) Sorry if it is a bit crap, this fluffiness overwhelmed me and caused me to write it up. I'm also so sorry if I misspelled 'Kilgarrah'. Oh, and yes, I had to bring in Doctor Who ;D Doctor Who is my favorite show. (Torchwood, Merlin, and Sherlock are so very close.) Anyway, reviews are much appreciated! :) **_


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